Li Nanxing tasted up to 10 pies a day before launching Nonya-inspired recipes

SINGAPORE - Actor Li Nanxing has been perfecting his pie recipes for the past three months, tasting up to 10 pies a day.

His Nonya-inspired ready-to-eat pies with flavours such as assam fish, beef rendang and chicken rendang, will launch on Sunday (Aug 8) at a special price of $8.80 each from 8am to 8pm.

In an interview in Shinmin Daily News on Thursday (Aug 5), the 56-year-old veteran actor said: "You know when I'm filming, I cannot afford to look fat. It would be unimaginable if I still ate 10 pies a day. I would have to run up and down for a couple of hours to burn all the calories."

Currently filming Mediacorp drama The Peculiar Pawnbroker, the formidable home cook, who has Peranakan blood on his mother's side of the family, said he hit upon the idea of incorporating Nonya flavours into Western-style pie pastry when he was stuck at home during the pandemic.

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"It was not good enough that I thought they were delicious, so I found 40 to 50 people to do a taste test and at least half of them had to say OK before I approved of the flavours," he said of the three pies which made the cut and will be available on lnxfood.com.

He had collaborated with Bakers & Co. bakery last year (2020) to come up with a curry chicken and a hae bee hiam croissant, based on his family's recipes. Earlier this year, he worked with White Restaurant on a dried scallop hae bee hiam XO white beehoon.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.